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Messing About oUse basic whirligig – you will have 5-10 minutes oWatch it carefully oTry dropping it in different ways oTry changing some of the parts oThink about oWhat is the Whirligig capable of doing? oWhat is the structure of the item? oWhat are the mechanisms? oHow is this item suppose to behave? oWhat might I change in the item to affect that behavior? http://www.online-stopwatch.com/full-screen-stopwatch /

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Experiment With A Whirligig 10/18/10 12 Summary: Messing About: time to explore the materials Structure: the way the parts are put together Mechanism: the way the parts connect together and move

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Project Board 1/2A Whar What do we think we know? What do we need to investigate? What are we learning? What is our Evidence? What does it mean for the challenge? If two objects are dropped at the same time, they will fall at the same rate Heavier things fall faster (more mass) Taking off paperclips made it fall more slowly No paperclips usually didn’t work More paperclips made it fall faster When dropped upside down, it would flip and then start spinning how do aerodynamics play into the falling of objects (wind) Dropped coffee cans with/without marbles from a higher height What would happen if the blades were shorter? What would happen if the blades were bigger? What would happen if you used a different kind of paper? What would happen if you didn’t fold the wings? What would happen if the stem were a triangle What would happen if we curved the wings? how wind and air can change speed effects of mass on gravity flower flipped over and dropped slower than the other objects mass doesn’t really affect speed of fall the toy will need more surface area in order to fall more slowly whirligig should be light weight Whirligig Challenge

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Project Board 3/4A Whar What do we think we know? What do we need to investigate? What are we learning? What is our Evidence? What does it mean for the challenge? The more mass of an object the faster it falls Two objects with different mass – both fall at the same speed. drop coffee cans – one with marbles and one without. Gravity pulls the objects down Book fell faster than paper mass won’t matter in the speed of fall Whirligig Challenge

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Project Board 1/2B Whar What do we think we know? What do we need to investigate? What are we learning? What is our Evidence? What does it mean for the challenge? the thinner and bigger the item, the slower it falls objects fall at same speed no matter the mass Dropping it from a high distance caused the object to spin Different angles made the whirligig straighten out – upside down and it flipped Folding the wing up cause it to fall faster Folding the wings down caused it to fall slower One paper clip caused it to fall slower Adding more surface area to the blades caused it to fall slower Putting a pencil in the stem caused it to spin faster and fall faster No paperclips causes it to drop really slow Make a bigger flower (20 filters) and drop it with the little flower upside down flowers how does mass influence the speed of drop What would happen if we dropped it into a volcano? Use thin cardboard paper to see how it affects the speed Use wax paper because it is thinner Drop from higher heights Try folding the stem how gravity affects how objects fall aerodynamics (how wind changes how things fall) how different changes to an item can affect the behavior how gravity affects mass variables – something that can change When we dropped the flower it landed last dropped coffee cans with no marbles and marbles Mess about with the whirligig whirligig can trap air space in between the materials greater surface area heavy or light doesn’t really make a difference. Don’t fold the blades up Perhaps we can fold the wings down Least amount of mass possible – less paperclips Whirligig Challenge

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Project Board 5/6B Whar What do we think we know? What do we need to investigate? What are we learning? What is our Evidence? What does it mean for the challenge? Heavier items fall faster than lighter objects Having more surface area slows the drop down Everything falls at the same rate unless one object has more air resistance No matter what the mass, the items will fall at the same speed Try dropping a pencil and a book. Drop one piece of paper vs a crunched ball of paper How gravity affects the fall of items to earth Air resistance – how the wind influences how things drop The book fell to the ground faster than the paper The flower took the longest time to hit the ground vs the 7 coffee filters The whirligig needs to be light weight Increase the surface area on the whirligig Having something to trap the air, like a parachute, will slow down the fall We have to make the whirligig air resistant Whirligig Challenge

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Questions to Investigate 1.How does the length of the blade affect the time it takes the whirligig to fall to the ground? 2.How does the number of paper clips on the stem affect the time it takes the whirligig to fall to the ground?

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Experiment With A Whirligig 10/18/10 12 Summary: Messing About: time to explore the materials Structure: the way the parts are put together Mechanism: the way the parts connect together and move Phenomenon: something that happens Variable: a quantity whose value may change over the course of the experiment Question: Write the question you are investigating here!

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Design Your Experiment oUse the Whirligig Experiment Planning Guide to write detailed instructuions on how to conduct the experiment. oWrite enough in each section so you will be able to present your experiment design to the class oMake sure you can explain to the class why you think they will be able to trust the data http://www.online-stopwatch.com/full-screen-stopwatch /

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Communicate oOthers in the class have planned experiments to answer the same questions you are answering. oCompare your plans to others in the class oNotice similarities and differences oWhat are the strengths of each plan? oWhat might need to be improved in each plan? oRevise your plan based on the discussion you had.